


Waiting for you

by FragileObject



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Action/Adventure, Falling In Love, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-15
Updated: 2013-03-15
Packaged: 2017-12-05 10:05:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/721828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FragileObject/pseuds/FragileObject
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack is separated from his environment. His return to Earth, to the Hub and to his small nest is hard and long. But when someone who loves you is waiting for you to come back ... all seems worth it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Waiting for you

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Te estaba esperando](https://archiveofourown.org/works/721813) by [FragileObject](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FragileObject/pseuds/FragileObject). 



> I sincerely apologize for my humble english.

Jack Harkness took off his coat and tossed it to Gwen’s face. The little spaceship began to vibrate. They had no time.

—I’M GOING INTO IT! —he shouted to his companions—. Go back to the Hub!

—HAVE YOU GONE CRAZY? —Owen cried.

—Jack! You can not go in there! The ship will take off! —Gwen said, astonished.

—And I need to take control! GET OUT OF HERE!

—MY ASS! —Owen cried.

—If nobody controls this damn spaceship it can rise and fall in a populated area! It would be like a huge meteorite! A catastrophe on a planetary level! Go back to the base and pray so that I can override its programs and control it... GO! GET OUT BEFORE IT TAKES OFF!

The ship, a smoking sphere with two meters of diameter, stirred furiously. The noise was deafening.

—God! SHIT! —Owen shouted raising his hands to his head in despair. He didn’t want to lose Jack again. The first time, it was been he himself who had killed him. A little later, his boss was gone without an explanation and returned just weeks ago after being out nearly three months.

—Go back to the base, keep working... I will come back... when I can. I always come back!

—What if it sends you into space?! —Gwen said, asking aloud Owen’s fears, grabbing the shirt of his friend—. My God, Jack... WHAT IF THIS TAKES OFF AND YOU GET LOST IN SPACE?

—Well, I’ll be back from space. Not the first time.

Jack put on his best smile of galactic hero and, taking her by the neck, kissed Gwen on the lips hastily.

—YOU ARE CRAZY, JACK HARKNESS! —Owen cried while Gwen took a step back, stumbling.

—I love you too, Owen! —Jack said kissing his medical officer also on the lips and then pushing him away from him—. You won’t get rid of me that easily! Take care of... everything for me. KISS TOSH AND IANTO!

Owen wiped the kiss from his lips angrily as Jack threw himself down and got into the ship through the narrow hatch. Gwen seemed to be about to cry. The heat and noise bouncing the spacecraft were unbearable. Owen grabbed Gwen by the arm and ran to get away from there. Luckily, no one else was in that area that could see the ship taking off. The girl was shouting the name of Jack and the military coat that she was still holding with one hand was waving behind her as both members of Torchwood ran with all their soul.

After a few seconds, the small spacecraft took off with an awful roar and tremor that spread by the floor and dropped the two youths in mid-career. From the ground, in the countryside, both watched as the ship rose. Gwen shouted desperately and Owen, angry, struck the ground with his fist. Jack was gone again. Only three months after returning from his strange escape, Jack had left again. And now what? Would he come back? Perhaps he would have the will and desire to do it, but... would he be able to do it?

The ship was tiny, Jack barely had room to move. The alien they had found dead beside it didn’t measure more a meter and this was clearly a vehicle for one. Jack struggled with the controls and tried to access the computer. The technology was not unknown but the speed it had reached was dizzying. Soon it would come out of the stratosphere. Underfoot, through the transparent hatch, he could see the outlines of the Bristol Channel. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he went back to his work. He only had to take control and land the ship. Antigravity system allowed him to move without getting crushed against the seat and the air exchange mechanism was working. He had no food or waste disposal equipment but had breathable air, energy and... all the time in the world. He would achieve the control of the damn ship and would land in a safe and secure manner. What he didn’t know was how long it would take. While the alien artifact kept rising higher and higher, Jack could not help but take another look at what he was leaving behind. On Earth, he loved too many things, too many people... He had been gone during a long time, too much long, and the things he had had to endure were horrible. During that terrible time he had thought long and had realized what he really wanted. He was willing to spend as much time as possible with those who loved. He didn’t think he’d have to get away so soon.

 

Jack entered the base. It was after three in the morning and the Hub was quiet and nearly dark. Four days. It had been four days since the damn ship took off and send him into the stratosphere. Jack had tried by all means to take control and, when he thought he had succeeded and was going to land, the supply circuits had failed and the ship had crashed on a deserted beach on the west of Wales. The device also had a camouflage system for all types of radar, terrestrial or alien, so no one, including Torchwood, would have detected its presence, nor in space, nor in the atmosphere nor on Earth. The impact was tremendous, the ship was destroyed, but at the same time it was small enough to go unnoticed in that place forsaken of God. At least that gave Jack time to resurrect and get rid of the debris. He had no way to communicate with his team, his phone was left in his coat, so he walked to the nearest town, got rid of his and torn and dirty clothes and got some jeans and a shirt at a second hand store. With the rest of the little money he had he ate something in a cheap bar and bought a bus night ticket to Cardiff. It was more than enough. He felt strangely depressed and didn’t want to call anyone of Torchwood. He would reach the base on his own and, once there, in his natural place, with his clothes and his authority, he would adopt again his role of Captain Harkness. The year he spent in the Valiant and everything that happened there was too recent and he still had to leave it behind. Or perhaps simply the Year That Never Was had changed him more than he wanted to admit. 

There was no one, the base was empty. Jack assumed that the guys had worked hard during that time, resigned to not knowing if his boss was coming back or not. It wasn’t the first time and Jack was not proud of it. At times, he had doubted to get it. Instead, he was proud of his team. He crossed the Hub, came into his office and, in the dark, he went down to his burrow. He was exhausted and felt dirty after the long bus ride with some clothes that were uncomfortable. All he wanted was a nap and then try to return to normality. He went down the ladder and at the bottom, he was surprised to see a figure in the shadows which incorporated almost jumping in his own bed.

—Jack? Is that you, Jack? —a frightened, incredulous and somewhat sleepy, familiar, deep voice said, modulated in a beautiful Welsh accent.

—Ianto?

—My God, Jack! You’re back! —said the young man with the voice turned into relief and affection.

Jack went to bed and gestured with his hands reassuringly.

—Ssst. I’m back—he said sitting down next to Ianto—. What are you doing here?

Ianto, half sitting up in bed, wide-eyed but with a sleepy air and his short hair tousled, seemed to be looking at a miracle.

—I was waiting for you...

Jack couldn’t help it, the vehemence of Ianto was moving and he didn’t feel as invulnerable as usual. He took the boy in his arms and hugged him tightly. Ianto hugged him back a moment later. He still seemed to be dreaming. But no... A dream could not smell nor could state so much security with just a hug. Jack, his Jack, had come back and that was enough to make him happy. The rest of the world did not matter to him. In recent months, in the absence of Jack, he had realized how much the Captain had changed his life. After his return, one night, as they lay in the same bed hugging close in the burrow underground Torchwood, the young man had had a revelation: it was not an office affair, what his boss produced in him was not only admiration and sexual arousal. Everything was much more complicated and much easier at the same time... He was in love. Ianto looked for Jack’s face with his hand and forced him to turn to kiss his jaw. The kiss was warm and long, soft and outright at the same time. Both needed it.

After a moment, Jack, with Ianto’s hands and lips still on his neck, slid a hand down the back of the young, reluctant to separate from him.

—Ianto, tell me...

—Mmm? —he replied against Jack’s skin.

—Are you wearing my coat?

Ianto sighed more than laughed, and retreated a bit.

—I missed you —he apologized, with a shy smile and ashamed eyes—. We’ve all tried to get on with the day to day of Torchwood... like last time... We didn’t know when you were going to come back, or if you were going to come back at all... But at nights, when everyone went home... I... I could not leave. Something told me I had to wait in this place.

—Have you spent these nights here? —Jack asked, amazed and moved.

—Yes —said the young man.

Jack smiled.

—In my bed? With my coat?

Ianto smiled. There was some complicity in his smile.

—Yes.

—In my bed, with my coat... and... nothing else...

As if to confirm his words, Jack’s coat slipped and left at sight the bare shoulder of Ianto. It was large, firm, light-skinned and deliciously freckled. Jack reached out and stroked it. He felt the strength and serenity of the young Welshman under his touch, his consent. He observed a moment his light brown hair, disheveled and so short, his white skin and flushed cheeks, his own old military coat, big and heavy, tapered around the thin but strong body, the long bare legs slightly bent to his chest.

—Ianto, you’re the most beautiful view of the universe... and also the more sensual —he added with a sweet smile.

When Jack advanced his lips to kiss the bare shoulder, Ianto rested his face in Jack’s hair, took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

—I’ve missed you. I’ve missed you so much... —he groaned, ardently—. I was so afraid you couldn’t come back...

—I also was, Ianto... but I had not much time to think. The ship rose so fast!

—Oh, god, Jack! You could have lost forever! —Ianto cried, aghast, at the edge of tears.

—Eh, eh, no... Calm down... No... I promised never to leave you —Jack said stretching his coat around the boy again and forcing him to lie. The Captain quickly got rid of his boots and uncomfortable trousers and laid next to him, facing him, their bodies stuck in bed and cuddled close for warmth and love, legs entwined, both holding the arms of the other to not ever escape.

—But sometimes it doesn’t depend on us, Jack, sometimes...

—Enough, Ianto... I’m here and I will try by all means to be always with you.

Ianto nodded gravely.

—Me too, Jack.

Ianto’s vehemence made him smile again. If it were that easy...

—At least one ship as small as that one has not been able to take me away from here. From you... All of you.

—Tell me what happened —Ianto asked settling on Jack’s chest—. We couldn’t trace the damn thing with its damn anti-radar devices. Gwen and Owen were very concerned, they said you had to get into the ship to control it and then it took off.

—It was going to take off anyway, it had a sort of autopilot. Its only crewman was dead and the ship was programmed to go into orbit, but was damaged and would have ended up falling to Earth. From that height and with that speed and size it would have been an impact equivalent to several atomic bombs. It could have destroyed half the planet... I had no choice.

—How long did it take you to control it?

—Quite a lot... I don’t know. There were many hours. It was very hot and I had no room to move. When I got control and started to descend, when I thought I would be able to land near Cardiff without too much fuss, a short circuit spoiled everything, I ran out of energy and it ended up crashing on a deserted beach on the west of Wales.

—You died —Ianto whispered, tightening his embrace. It was not a question.

—I died. And when I came back to life I went to the nearest town and then took a bus up here.

—But... why didn’t you call us?

—I needed... I needed to think.

Ianto separated a little to look at him.

—About that ship... or about the year you spent away from Earth? —he asked.

Jack didn’t answer. Ianto’s power to reach into his innermost being amazed him. Sometimes it even frightened him. And also worried him. He could see clearly that Ianto was falling for him and he didn’t want to hurt him. In any other circumstances, with any other person, Jack had not the least worried. Jack enjoyed love, he gave and received it with all the happiness in the world, whoever it come from. But Ianto... he still didn’t know why Ianto was different from everything and everyone. He just knew it was Ianto’s memories the thing he clung to, in the Valiant, while the Master tried to destroy his body and his mind, and that was what he couldn’t take away from his mind since then.

—Ianto, what happened in the Valiant... It’s no secret, it’s just... I can’t... I can’t yet.

He had told Ianto about the ship, the Doctor, Martha Jones and the psychopath who called himself “the Master”. But he had said almost nothing about what they had had to suffer and the aberrations committed by the mad Time Lord, in the world and in his person. He was not ready.

—I don’t mind. I don’t need to know —he said with the resolution of a brave Welshman, stroking Jack’s cheekbone with the back of his fingers, which protruded just a bit by the sleeve of the coat—. But you have to accept that it is over.

Jack nodded.

—You’re right... as usual —the Captain joked to ease the seriousness of the moment—. I’m thinking... I’ve lived so many incredible things... that in a thousand years you’ll still not know everything about me. Will you be able to handle that?

Ianto grinned. The idea of continuing with Jack in a thousand years seemed wonderful to him, an invitation that he was not going to decline. It was one of those things that made him realize he was in love. And even though Jack was his boss, a time traveler and, the most strange thing of all, a man, realizing that he was in love gave him a happiness he had never known.

—I will. Of course I will.

Jack sighed. He wished it could be true, he wished he could do something to have Ianto with him in a thousand years. Of all creatures of the world, of all his lovers... But it was absurd to think such a thing at the time. They were alone in the base, in the dark, in the middle of the night. At that moment, there were only thetwo of them. And that was wonderful. And that would have to be enough for as long as possible. He ran his thumb over the brow of the young man.

—You know, Ianto? I didn’t remember that your eyes were so blue.

Ianto gave a short laugh. He wanted to push Jack out of bed, but instead he hugged him tighter.

—Sleep now, Jack, rest. You need sleep after... resurrecting. You know that. We both need some rest.

—But I should take a shower...

Ianto wasn’t going to let him go.

—Not now... Stay with me, sleep a couple of hours... Then we will have a shower —he added with a mischievous look.

—Will we have a shower together? —Jack asked, his eyes widening, with the enthusiasm of a child.

—We’ll make love in the shower. Is that what you wanted to ask?

—You know I did. My God, Ianto, you read my mind.

Ianto laughed and settled back against his lover.

—All right, then. Rest now and we’ll see later...

—What does “we’ll see” mean? You can’t offer me sex in the shower and then leave it in the air.

—Sssst, go to sleep, Jack...

—Not until you promise me —the Captain protested moving in the small bed.

—Jack!

—Ianto...

Ianto closed his eyes and curled.

—I promise. Sex in the shower. Standing. Naked and wet. Groaning aloud without anyone else to listen. The best fucking of your life.

Jack looked at Ianto a moment and stroked his hair affectionately. He was almost asleep. The Captain dropped his head in the pillow and surrendered to sleep.

—I love you —he whispered.

But Ianto didn’t hear him.


End file.
